Maya

"SING!!!"

I toppled over my feet when I heard the scream. I landed on my face on the rock ground.

I held my nose as blood gushed out, looking around the area. I could feel my bun bouncing around my head as I looked around frantically. I recognized that male voice. It sounded like one of the bands that Lyra loves to show me.

She must be alive.

And I had to find her.

I waved to the people walking by me, giving me strange looks since I fell, and my nose was bleeding. Some of the looks I got were, 'are you alright?' and 'what the hell?'.

I stood up, suddenly realizing that no one else had heard the scream. Nobody was looking up, or had confused looks on their faces. They were going about their day normally. Either that scream was a normal thing (which would be beyond weird), or... I was the only one that heard it. If that was true, then I might have imagined it, and I tripped over nothing.

I screamed 'sing' in my head. It definitely sounded different from when I heard it the first time. At least that confirms that I did hear it, but for some reason, I seem to be the only one that heard it. You know, if it wasn't a normal thing.

When I think I hear something, I tend to mimic what I heard in my head, to help me decide whether or not it was real. If my head made it sound different, then I know that I didn't make it up.

"Even if it wasn't Lyra behind the noise, I still want to find out what it was. Blech." That last part was from blood getting into my mouth.

I reimagined the scene of when the noise happened. The noise had come from somewhere in front of me, so that's where I need to go.

I moved my hand away from my face.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

That was a lot of blood. Maybe I should deal with this first...

I looked around and noticed a shop right next to me. I hope they'll let me use their bathroom.

Just as I grabbed the doorknob, I paused and took a deep breath.

It might not seem like it, but I hate being around people, Lyra being one of the few exceptions. When I was still with Levy, Jet and Droy, my heart had been pounding, I was so nervous. I try to avoid people, but I can handle crowds a lot better than Lyra can.

"Oh no..." My face went slack. What if there are people wherever Lyra is? And I mean a lot, not just one or two. She isn't going to react too well.

I suddenly rushed into the store, the urgency on finding Lyra increasing tenfold.

"Hello Miss," and old man greeted me with a smile. "Welcome to   my—Are you alright?" His smile disappeared when he noticed the blood leaking through my fingers as they held my nose.

I laughed nervously. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I tripped earlier and now my nose is bleeding. Do you have a bathroom I could use to clean myself up? I-if you don't mind," I stuttered. Curse my inability to talk to people.

"It's right over there," he pointed me in the right direction.

"Thank you," I said before rushing towards the other room.

Once safely there, I turned on the tap and let my hand under the cold water as I inspected my nose through the mirror. It looked like the flow had stopped, but it was hard to tell since there was blood all over my face.

I lowered my face to the sink and used my hands to try to wash off as much blood as possible.

When I was sure I was done, I looked up and inspected my face.

All clear.

After I turned off the water, I decided to undue my bun. It was getting pretty annoying.

My hair fell to about the middle of my back. My green eyes glared at my reflection before putting my hair into a ponytail, the strands still framing my face.

Just as I was drying my face and hands, there was a knock on the door. "Are you alright in there Miss?" The man asked on the other side.

I opened the door before answering. "Yes, I'm fine," I gave him a small smile. "Thanks again for letting me use you washroom."

"No problem at all," he smiled warmly. "Since your here, is there anything you'd like to buy? This is a magic shop, after all."

"M-magic?" I asked, all the colour draining from my face. There was no way magic existed. It's not... Right!

"Of course magic! There are plenty of wizards here in Fiore!"

"W-well I'm kind of broke," I declined. "Plus, I'm not a wizard. Sorry."

His smile faltered for a second, the hope of me being a customer whisked away in a second. "That's alright. Have a good day!"

"You too!" I called as I walked to the door.

Once outside, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. This is why I don't like talking to people.

I slumped against the wall. This is crazy. Wizards? Magic? Magic shops?! This doesn't make any sense. What, did I land in a different dimension or something?

I held my head for a second, until a single word started to bounce around in my head: Lyra.

"Crap! I forgot again!" I growled at myself. Today is just being a wonderful day, isn't it?

I let my hands drop and stay limply by my side as I started to walk. The sooner I find Lyra, the better.

I quickly arrived at the end of the town, which expanded into a forest. "Goodbye Hargeon, hello nothingness until the next town."

On the bright side, I don't have to worry about bumping into Levy again. Unless if she walks in forests on a regular basis. Then, I'm screwed.

"You should stop being so negative," I told myself.

"And you should stop talking to yourself.

"I can't exactly talk to my inner mind like Lyra can! It's not like I would want to, since she always complains about her's...

"See! This is why you need an inner mind! If people were to overhear you, you'll get more than a simple 'what the hell?' look!

"Oh, shut up. I've never really been able to talk to my inner mind before, and you know it."

I didn't answer myself. It was true, though, me not being able to talk to my inner mind. It's never really worked that well for me.

It's pretty strange, to be honest. I have an extremely active imagination, being able to mimic sounds, and imagine scenes as if it was something I was born with.

I started humming quietly to myself, an attempt to stay sane. It was horrible and off key, but it was enough.

It wasn't long before I realized I was humming the entire song from the one word from earlier. Yet, for the life of me, I couldn't remember what it was called, or who sang it.

~•~•~

"How on earth did I get myself into this situation?" I quietly asked myself as I started reevaluating my life choices.

"What was that, Maya?" The man walking beside-whom I've come to know as Gildarts-asked me.

"Sorry, I didn't say anything."

After giving me a skeptical look, he decided to let it slide.

Gildarts had shaggy brown hair that he managed to look neat, brown eyes (no surprise) and a black cape-like thing with a few added pieces. His one arm looked kind of like it was made of metal, his torso and his other arm was bandaged and he wore black pants.

As I was wandering this forest, only going straight, I stumbled into Gildarts. Literally.

I wasn't exactly paying attention to where I was going and accidentally tripped over his sleeping figure.

After apologizing excessively, I asked him what he was doing, sleeping in the middle of a forest. He looked ashamed of himself, and admitted that he had gotten injured on the last mission he went on, and accidentally passed out.

Then he asked me what I was doing. Naturally, I lied and said just traveling through the country.

He had asked me if it was okay if he travelled with me until the next town. I am too nice of a person, so I said yes. Now, I'm stuck walking with him, occasionally supporting his heavy weight when Gildart's injuries became too much for him. We haven't talked for very much. He was an adult, maybe 30? I don't know. I'm a child standing next to him. I'm fifteen, but short for my age.

"Have you ever considered being a wizard, Maya?" Gildarts suddenly asked.

"Huh?" I looked up in surprise. After realizing what he asked, I continued. "No, not really. Why?"

"It's just that you have an unusually high level of magic energy."

Magic energy? Could that be the same thing as spirit energy, like from Bleach? For a second, I imagined myself being a soul reaper, but then I continued the conversation. "I do?"

"Yeah. It's hard to believe you never considered being a wizard. You would be powerful."

I stayed quiet at this compliment. That would be cool to know magic...

Though I would rather be a soul reaper.

"Look." Gildarts pointed ahead. "There's a town. Thanks for walking me here."

"Your welcome!" I smiled brightly at this man. He was pretty cool, and I wasn't too uncomfortable talking to him, even if we didn't talk a lot.

He reached into his cape and pulled something out. "Here," he said, reaching it out to me. I took it curiously. It was a small, yellow sphere, and about the size of my palm. Gildarts laughed at my confused expression. "It's a lacrima. If you ever want to become a wizard, you can use it to contact me. See you around, Maya!"

I waved at his retreating figure, a smile dancing on my lips. At least there was someone I could trust in this strange place.

My smile was quickly replaced with a frown when the thought of Lyra being alone entered my mind.

I would check out the town, see if she was there, but I had a feeling she wasn't. Besides, when I was with Gildarts, we hadn't gone forward, like I hoped.

I sighed and continued moving forward, towards-where I hope-Lyra is.